Rampaging drug-driver killed a beloved aunt

Rampaging drug-driver killed a beloved aunt

A WOMAN has spoken of her torment after a drug-driver who killed her sister was jailed for five years.

Barbara Murray died in October last year, having been in a coma since May, after a crash in East Tilbury.

The 65-year-old had been walking her 11-year-old niece to school in Coronation Avenue when they were struck by drug-driver Liam Jones-Bell.

The 27-year-old, of Markhams Chase, in Laindon, had taken his friend’s rented Mercedes out to drive, without permission, when he was nearly double the drink-drive limit and also had drugs in his system.

He collided with a garden wall before crashing into Ms Murray and her niece, before fleeing the scene and driving for a further two-and-a-half miles and abandoning the car.

Ms Murray suffered a life-threatening head injury and was in a coma until she sadly died on October 11 last year.

At Basildon Crown Court yesterday, Ms Murray’s sister, Angela Holland, said: “Barbara was not just my sister, she was my best friend. To say that we’re lost without her is a complete understatement.

“I can no longer walk by her house, as every time I do, I see their crushed bodies on the pavement. I keep thinking how this could have happened on a bright, sunny neighbourhood.

“Sometimes, I wish it was me that died. Barbara was strong, she would have been able to move on from this, but that’s not an option for me.”

Directly addressing Jones-Bell, she added: “How you sleep at night is beyond me, because I don’t.”

Ms Murray’s niece suffered serious fractures and had to use a wheelchair for months after the crash.

Jones Bell previously admitted two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving along with a host of driving offences, and was jailed for three-and-a-half years in June.

However, following Ms Murray’s death he was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and has been jailed for a further five years.

Judge John Lodge told Jones-Bell: “It’s hard to imagine a worse piece of driving than this.”

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